"What's the difference between God and a bartender, Professor?" Hal, a guy who tends bar at Duffy's, an Irish pub in Hoboken, N.J. and is in town for an extended bar crawl, grins at our cocktailian bartender.

"Guess when you live as long as you, you've heard them all before, huh?"

"I'll pretend you didn't say that, Hal, and I'll make you a drink created by a bartender who some people think is God. Unless he's the Antichrist ..."

These tongue-in-cheek sentiments were posted earlier this year on Yelp.com when a debate was being held about "who is the best bartender in San Francisco." The bartender being discussed at the time was Neyah White, a guy who holds forth from behind the mahogany at Nopa, a restaurant on Divisadero Street that specializes in organic wood-fired cuisine. White himself has no God complex, but some of his creations are quite heavenly, and the Washhouse, the drink that the Professor is about to fix for Hal, is one of them.

Named Washhouse because of the nature of the business that was previously housed in the space that Nopa now occupies -- it used to be a laundry -- the drink is made with a base of Square One organic vodka, a spirit that White also likes to serve as a Naked Martini, merely chilled over ice and served straight up with a Castelvetrano olive on the side.

"The Castelvetranos are a wonderful complement (to the vodka), rather a briny counterpoint. They have this creamy green thing going on that changes the way one thinks of cocktail olives," he says, adding, "The only downside is that the brine is oily rather than salty, so dirty martinis must be served with a disclaimer."

Square One, made from 100 percent American rye, isn't the only organic vodka on the market. Rain, another American product, but made from 100 percent organic white corn, has been around since 1996, and last year it garnered the only double-gold medal in the super-premium vodka category of the San Francisco World Spirits Championship. The base of Orange V, an orange-flavored vodka, is also made entirely from certified organic grains, and the spirit is then flavored with Floridian fruits such as Valencia oranges, mandarins and tangerines. It's probable that we'll be seeing more organic spirits and liqueurs on the shelves in the very near future.

The Professor serves the Washhouse cocktail to Hal. The drink is made with muddled fresh basil, and it's garnished with a sprig of fresh thyme. Hal eyes the glass, then bursts into laughter.

"Sorry, Professor. I'm sure it's a really great drink, but I could never serve it to the likes of my customers at Duffy's. But I once tried to get Doug, one of my regulars, to try a drink that looks similar to this."

Adapted from a recipe by Neyah White, bartender at Nopa, San Francisco

INGREDIENTS:

4 to 5 fresh basil leaves

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup

1 1/2 ounces Square One organic vodka

1 sprig fresh thyme, as garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the basil, lime juice and the simple syrup into an empty mixing glass, and muddle with a wooden muddler. Add ice and the vodka, and shake for approximately 15 seconds. Strain through a fine strainer into a chilled cocktail glass, and add the garnish.